My Character's stuff
by Scarlet Pikachu
Summary: Poems, tidbits, etc. All about some of my more beloved characters from Xtreme Gamer's fic, "Firefly: Queen of the New Breed". I thought this would be a nice little ditty to scatter such things.
1. A Brother's Love

Little something I made. Took a while, as I really had to get in a missing state to think like Rusty does.

This is a poem.

I came up with this while listening to Tom Petty's Deliver Me, it's a good song like most of his are.

Chapter 1: A brother's love is forever.

Be nice and...

**Review!**

**Viva la feedback!**

* * *

_I'm her big brother after all._

_It was I who'd catch her before she'd fall._

_And I won't let her go just yet._

_If I did that would surely become another regret._

_I've devoted myself to her defense._

_Whenever the moments begin to grow tense._

_I'm warning you, better back away now mister. _

_Don't __**you**__ dare so much as touch my little sister!_

_Keeps your paws __**off!**_

_She's not to be touched by the uncouth._

_She's not yours(and I doubt she'll ever be) just yet._

_Don't make me do something I __**won't**__ regret._

_I'm her big brother after all._

_It was I who'd catch her before she'd fall._

_And I ain't about to quit,_

_Aiding her when she needs it._

_I'm being way too overprotective you say?_

_You never had to guide her back when she was blind everyday._

_I give her space._

_So stay off my case!_

_I've devoted myself to her defense._

_Whenever the moments begin to grow tense._

_I'm just not quite ready to let her go._

_This is a feeling any big brother would know._

_And I won't let her go just yet._

_If I did that would surely become another regret._

_But still, deep down I know, that time will come some day._

_When she'll find a lover who will whisk her far far away._

_And I know, I'll have to let her go._

_But even then, my vow will be this so._

_I'm warning you, better back away now mister. _

_Don't __**you**__ dare so much as touch my little sister!_

_She's not yours(and I doubt she'll ever be) just yet._

_Don't make me do something I __**won't**__ regret._

_I'm her big brother after all._

_It was I who'd catch her before she'd fall._

_And I was also the first one to truly realize._

_There's another world that's seen through a blind's eyes._

_As I know, as I feel._

_For Rubic, seeing is real._


	2. Spikes for Rubic, and a New Friend

Hello, there... Well this takes place after the 8th chapter of Xtreme Gamer's fic, "Firefly: Queen of the New Breed" the chapter is titled, "Stickers's Freedom"

Well, this isn't supposed to be a hundred dollar tidbit, hell it ain't even supposed to be worth five bucks but I'm posting it anyway . . . Enjoy!

* * *

Rubic sighed, she kept coming back to the arena, feeling as though she was looking for something but not knowing why or what that 'something' was. It had only been two days after her best friend, the beloved Lickitung Stickers had died, and even now she continued to walk in circles around the place where Stickers had had her insides ripped to shreds by that bastard of a Mightyena.

She walked around, again and again, slowly wearing a path into the firm soil. Suddenly, her foot caught on something and she fell sideways, onto her shoulder, pulling it in the process. "Damnation!" she shrieked before some-what awkwardly composing herself to see what had tripped her.

It was a whit-ish spike, five inches in length an inch or so around the base.

She dusted and pawed away the dirt and then, making sure her thoughts were correct, she turned it over... And saw the runes carved into it.

Suddenly she felt compelled to focus. She shut her eyes and focused on the spike...

_"Rubic..."_ Rubic gasped and opened her eyes, she was now outside of the arena, and Stickers was walking behind all of those mean scientist and cronies that had come and taken her away to fight.

_"I know you will see this, I've got an awful feeling my days are numbered and that my lot has been cast."_

The Lickitung smiled wanly. _"Remember how I taught you to read ancient runes? Well, I've left several of my spikes to you, although I never said it, my spikes have special power in them, powers that will help you..."_

Stickers grabbed her tail, snapping a spike from her tail. _"This one's for insight, and since you're seeing this, it works." _She reached down and broke off another one, slamming that one deep into the dirt so it could be found later, but only if one knew where to look for it.

_"They all have runes on them, like I've said, they can help you... Find the rest of them... And make my death known not as a vain one, but a heroic one..."_

The vision began to fade suddenly. "No!" Rubic cried out then said, "I must see more!"

But alas, that vision had fled from her grasp, merely a brief blessing.

And as tears filled her eyes, another vision from when she was younger floated to the top of her memory...

-

"Why are you being so kind to me?" A young Rubic asked, as she peered curiously up at her newest friend Stickers, she had recently met her and already the Lickitung had begun to dote upon her, giving her the attention that even her own mother had failed to give.

"Whatever could you mean little one?" the Lickitung had asked. "Don't you think I'm a freak?"

"Heavens no! Why would you even think that?" Stickers replied, slightly confused. "Just look at me, I'm a creepy little cream-puff with ears! And look at these custard yellow splotches! They make me look absolutely hideous!"

"Now, now, you are not a cream-puff and your ears are cute. And even the yellow splotches only help to accent your lovely appearance."

Rubic blinked then her eyes grew wide, "R-really?!" The Lickitung nodded. "Thanks Stickers, I needed that..."

-

Rubic began to cry, tears falling freely. "No one else could make me feel half as self-confident as you could Stickers... I just can't believe you're dead!"

"Whoa! Why are you crying?!" Came a voice.

"Who?" Rubic began.

"I'm over here, behind you... Is that spike, one of Stickers? And did you say she's d...dead?!"

Rubic turned, only to see a light grayish skinned creature that looked like a mutated Sandshrew. "What are you?"

"Please answer my questions. I'm a Kankid, and the son of Tamra's Kangaskhan, my name is Pockets," he paused and blushed, "because my momma has inhaled so many of those awful chemicals in this place that I kinda have a pouch. Even though I'm a guy."

Rubic tilted her head. "Tamra has a Kangaskhan? And you're its child, shouldn't you be a little less bold and unable to defend yourself?"

"Like I said, bad chemicals and they had weird affects on me even before I was born, now answer me this, is Stickers dead?" Rubic nodded grimly. "Oh, for the love of Mew! Why her?!"

Rubic approached Pockets, embracing him, and both began to cry.

Three-and-a-half minutes later...

"So, you are 'The Rubic', huh?" Pockets asked, his eyes red and puffy from crying so very hard, Rubic's eyes were a deepened puffy crimson colour from also crying.

"Yup, why? Did Stickers ever mention my name?"

"Heck yeah, she said all sorts of things. Oh! And she wished for me to give you something..." Reaching into his pouch, Pockets retrieved five spikes.

"How do you hold those in there without getting skewered?"

"I have access to Hammerspace."

"Hammerspace?"

"It's the access into kinda a huge black hole where I can carry hundreds of pounds and it only feels like I'm lugging ounces around."

Rubic's eyes widened, "Could you carry several books?"

"Sure, why? It's not like either of us can read..."

"I can."

"Really?! Will you teach me? Please!" Pockets began to plead, pouting slightly.

Rubic stood up, holding the six spikes in her paws. "First I need to get that one last spike, then later on, sure."

Pockets smiled. "You know, your ears are extremely cute. So is that lovely ruby that's in your forehead."

"T-t-thanks, Pockets. No one but Stickers ever thought that I wasn't a freak." Rubic replied, touching her ruby self consciously.

"Same here, everyone teased me for having a pouch, male Kangaskhan's aren't supposed to have them, _ever_!"

"Well, your pouch is awesome! You have access to Hammerspace!"

Now it was Pockets turn to blush. "Thank you! You're an awesome friend!"

They walked out from the Arena and somehow, Both Rubic and Pockets could swear that they could hear Stickers's praise...

_"Together you will be happy, maybe then you can move on... There's someone for everyone... And, even the losers get lucky sometimes. So why not the Pokemon who feel so alone? Friends are always there, and even I, myself will always be there for you all, just in spirit, yet I wish the best. Oh! And tell Rusty... I'm the one who put the vinegar in his last stash of wine..."_

A soft laugh was heard...as all three of them chuckled.

* * *

**Damn! I'm on fire!**

That makes three updates in less than a week. Truth is, my big sixteenth birthday has me eager to post all these ideas that have begun to pop up in my happy little mind.

Only four days until my big 16th birthday! Gift me with your reviews! After all, you only have one sixteenth birthday in your whole entire life... Okay, shutting up now...

So be nice and...** Review!**

**Vi va la feedback!**


	3. Refugee

Okay, here's the next fight that Giovanni decided to have after Firefly's latest battle in chapter eleven. of "Firefly: Queen of a new Breed" by Xtreme gamer

Seems like Giovanni is trying to kill off Firefly's closest friends, but not this time!

Xtreme gamer, the next chapter of M.C.S.(My Character's Stuff) is the one you inspired me to begin. It'll take awhile though...

I know I need to work on fight scenes, but, I'm getting better...

Disclaimer: Don't own Pokemon, yet I can keep wishing on my pretty little star.

Disclaimer 2.0: I totally don't own Tom Petty, but his song "Refugee" totally kicks ass! So I couldn't resist. I just had to borrow some of his lines from the song.

The song lyrics are in bold.

Yay for me! My first songfic-ish thing! Woot, go me!

Be nice and... Review!

Vi va la feedback!

* * *

How the hell had they gotten here in the first place?!

Oh, yeah! That bastard Giovanni wanted to see them in a tag battle... Pft, he wanted to see them die and be rid of them, he didn't really care.

Well, those two were determined to see if they could prove him wrong.

Pearl was shifting from foot to foot in uneasy anticipation. But Rusty merely stood there glaring at the Pokemon that stood opposite of him, a legged Dunsparce male. Pearl kept sneaking glances at her own foe, a rather vain looking female Cleffable.

**We got somethin', we both know it,  
We don't talk too much about it.  
Ain't no real big secret all the same,  
somehow, we get around it.  
**

They stared at each other and then heard the well known and totally cliche command, "Begin the battle!"

The Dunsparce broke off into a full body tackle. Rusty grinned and his claws shot out. "I've got no time to waste on you bugger-boy, my wine is getting warm."

Rusty lunged into a combination of Tackle and Fury-swipes. His claws raised and feet pounding.

The Cleffable too began advancing upon Pearl, who was still acting slightly hesitant to join in the battle. The Cleffable was light brown and as it began to slap the tar out of Pearl the Smoochum noticed it had green eyes.

Pearl started dodging and ducking, even raising her arms up to keep the Cleffable, who towered over said Smoochum, from landing a bone crushingly strong blow.

**It don't really matter to me, baby,  
You believe what you want to believe,  
You don't have to live like a refugee.  
(Don't have to live like a refugee)  
**

Rusty meanwhile, was scratching the hell out of the freakish Dunsparce, who, was merely squirming, out of the corner of his eye he saw that Pearl was having difficulty with her opponent, he grabbed the Dunsparce by the tail and spun around and around and around. "Hey Pearl, heads up!" He yelled as he chucked the Dunsparce at the Cleffable.

Pearl looked towards Rusty and caught on to what he was about to do, right when the Cleffable turned her attention to Rusty's voice, she slammed her paw into its chin, then ducked.

The Dunsparce's tail didn't only skin along the Cleffable's skull, it ended up causing a rather nasty ripping sound as its fur was ripped apart and a crack formed on the bone below leaving an open hole where flesh and bone and even brain matter showed.

The Dunsparce proceeded to fly through the air until it crashed into a wall then landed onto a pile of jagged rocks below, the awful crunching of bone announced its death as its crushed, torn, bruised, battered, and mangled body lay bleeding profusely.

**Baby, we ain't the first.  
I'm sure a lot of other lovers been burned.  
Right now this ain't real to you,  
But it's one of those things you gotta feel to be true.  
**

"Thanks Rust- Oof!" Pearl began, but was cut off by a punch to the gut. The Clefable was looking really pissed now!

And it didn't seem to be thinking very straight either!

It let out a half crazed scream of pure anger, not pain then began to blindly strike out at any nearby movement.

Rusty was upon the fairy-bitch right now, slapping and scratching at its face! The Cleffable thrashed and flailed, actually scratching two deep gouges along his left cheek below his left ear, suddenly said gouges healed up, leaving red crescent marks that matched his rings.

Pearl suddenly jumped up, coming down upon the Cleffable. She then head-butted the Cleffable cracking its skull open a bit further, and shot an ice beam at the open wound, freezing almost all of the exposed tissue. The Cleffable thrashed wildly as it screamed, it managed to land a kick that hit Pearl and sent her skidding across the ground and into a wall.

**Somewhere, somehow,  
Somebody must have kicked you around some.  
Tell me why you wanna lay there and revel in your abandon.  
**

Pearl shuddered then coughed, she felt certain that a couple of ribs were now officially bruised, 'cause they were aching like hell now!

Rusty's eyes widened and he turned back to the Cleffable grabbing one of its ears roughly and hoisting himself up to where he was eye level with the frozen portion of the Cleffable's head, he raised his right paw. It suddenly became engulfed in a silver light.

He brought the metal claw down with all his strength, "Die, you stupid bitch!" and the ice shattered, Smaller frozen pieces of brain matter, bone chips, and such went flying as the Cleffable suddenly teetered then crashed face first to the ground.

It was definitely dead, there was no way it could live with such a huge gaping hole in its head, and the lack of colour and movement proved that so.

As soon as he was sure the Cleffable bitch was permanently down-for-the-count, Rusty turned and ran to Pearl's side. "Honey, are you okay?" he asked as his eyes grew wide with fear, a couple of rather large purple-ish splotches were already beginning to show through her blue furred sides.

She coughed. "Just a couple of bruised ribs, I'll- Oof!" She winced as she attempted to stand up, almost falling had Rusty not caught her. "I'll be f-fine. R-really, Rusty..."

Rusty helped her up better. "Come on, let's go." he said and helped her walk, she leaned on him slightly to keep from moving her ribs too much. They left the arena and Rusty shouted out right before he was out of ear-shot, "Do something about those dead bodies would you?!"

**It don't make no difference to me, baby,  
Everybody's had to fight to be free,  
You see you don't have to live like a refugee.  
(Don't have to live like a refugee)**


	4. Rubic's Rage, Stickers's Speech

Well thanks to Xtreme gamer I'm at it again, this time it's the other half of chapter eleven of "Firefly: Queen of the New Breed" meaning that this is about Rubic's leave during Saturnine's brutal battle. The chapter title for Firefly's eleventh chapter is, "Awaken The Demon Fox, Saturnine."

Well, anyways... Be oh so nice and...

**Review!**

**Vi va la feedback!**

* * *

Pockets leaned back, he was twitching and shivering uncontrollably, his mother had told him that he couldn't stay inside with Tamra right now, a horrible Pokemon was tearing it's opponent to shreds on the screen that was in her room, and even she had came back out after a few minute, pale and wheezing slightly. She had then told him that she'd be resting outside Tamra's place. He had since then wandered till he came to the odd rock that jutted out from the ground, he sat in front of the rock looking at nothing in particular.

"Pockets!" Came a sudden wail and a wave of nausea hit him, Rubic never got upset unless something bad had happened, was happening, or was going to happen. He suddenly sat ramrod strait and began to fear for the worst.

His head shot up and his eyes widened. "Rubic, wh-what is it?"

Suddenly the Igglybuff had thrown herself into his arms, causing his back to be slammed against the rock, thank Guardian for his back plates, but they weren't firm enough to absorb the shock totally. He winced slightly, but gently embraced the emotionally wrecked Rubic. "It's awful, Pockets, it really is!" she wailed in that upset tone.

"What? What is so awful? Come on. Talk to me Rubic!" He asked, tilting his head slightly to the left in curiosity.

Rubic backed away and out of his embrace, "It's F-Firefly, she's fighting Stonehenge..."

"That stupid bastard! I hope she kills him!" Pockets declared and nodded violently. "That's just it, she did kill him, but he suffered a slow and painful death. She even went as far as to skin his stone plates right off his body!"

He suddenly cringed, he too had plates along his spine but, like his mother, his were naturally attached and had never been genetically engineered or implanted upon his hide. He could only hope his plates would never be forcefully sliced off, as the mental image made him cringe.

"Firefly would never do such a thing!" Pockets yelled back.

"Well I saw her do it with my own eyes, she transformed and ripped him to ribbons!" Rubic shot back. Then, the dam broke. "My best friends a damn sadist!" she wailed out as tears began to swell in her eyes and roll down her face only to finally fall to the firmly flattened dirt floor making soft splishing and thudding sounds.

"I'm sorry to hear that... Hey, not too long before her death, Stickers told me that she wanted Firefly to have Spiritual guidance, you think that means that she wants that one spike she hid so well to be given to Firefly?" he asked, attempting to change the subject.

"I don't know..." Rubic began while sniffling. "Let me see that spike, k?" Pockets nodded then reached into his pouch, withdrawing a single three inch white spike. "Here." He murmured and handed the spike to the depressed Igglybuff.

Rubic took the white spike from him, then squinted as she tried to read the tiny rune that was on the side of it. "It says 'to Firefly, may we always have guidance from a friend, even if that friend is worlds apart'."

Pockets wiped a couple of stray tears from Rubic's face. "Why don't you go give that to Firefly?" Rubic seemed to be lost in thought, but nodded fiercely. "Okay... I guess I'll do just that." Then she turned and left.

After he was certain Rubic had left, Pockets stood up then and rubbed his back a little bit, "Damn, she's one hell of a lass. Wonder what she meant by Firefly killing someone slow and painfully though. Could Firefly even possibly be that brutal?"

But even as he wondered, he felt himself still twitching slightly.

* * *

Rubic ran as fast as she could, maybe she could just set the spike in Firefly's den. No. Firefly might not realize what it was and lose it or something. Maybe she could still have one of her friends give it to Firefly and explain it for her. No. They would ask too many questions and then they might think she was losing it slightly.

Her thoughts were stopped as she heard her name being said by a familiar voice, she stepped inside.

Upon realizing that Firefly was inside Rubic's expression turned sour. She choked back a heart wrenching sob as she saw Stone's blood dried and undried caking the Vulpix's fur and even Firefly's wings were crimson with Stone's life blood.

"Rubic? Is everything okay?" Rusty asked.

"After what I saw today how can you think everything is okay," she replied. Firefly's eyes flashed and Rubic knew that Firefly knew that she was talking about her battle with Stonehenge.

"Listen to me, Rubic. I know you saw what happened during the battle," she said. "I can only imagine what you're going through right now, but I..."

"No! You don't know what I'm going through now!" Rubic yelled, catching everyone by surprise. It was then everyone's eyes seemed to zero in on the three inch white spike.

Her eyes were red and puffy as if she had been crying recently.

"How could you have done that? How?! You didn't just kill him! You tortured him! That was no better than what that damn bastard of a Mightyena did to Stickers!" she yelled. She then looked at the spike she was holding, then at Firefly. She angrily threw the spike at Firefly, watching as it landed at her feet.

"Stickers said she wanted you to have that. She said it would give you a way to speak with her. But now, I think she's too ashamed of your behavior. I know I am," she said. Rubic then turned to walk back out.

"Wait! W-where are you going?!" Rusty asked.

"To Tamra's place," she replied. "There's someone there I need to talk to, someone who will listen to me."

"Hold on, Rubic!" Rusty said.

"Don't try and stop me!" Rubic yelled. And she could see her outburst shocked everyone, especially Rusty.

And when she left she realized her behavior had been anything but couth.

She began to run, stumbling, and crying while her feet beat against the ground. She had to talk to Pockets. Right now!

She needed to confide in her newest, yet still one of her closest friends.

After all, there was no way she could turn back and explain anything to Firefly and the gang, Rusty had looked soo very hurt at her outburst earlier; it greatly pained her.

She saw Pockets, he was sitting where she had last seen him.

------------

Pockets had felt slightly alone lately. But Rubic seemed to help out on that matter... At least she didn't tease him about his silly looking pouch, in fact, Rubic thought him having a pouch and access to hammerspace was pretty damn awesome. He sighed happily thinking that he had a really nice friend and that his friend actually cared.

His head shot up as he caught sight of his friend. Damn! What had happened this time? She looked worst than before.

"Rubic,"he called. "Please, clarify with me what it is that has you so upset."

The Igglybuff took a moment to gain control of her sobs and take a deep breath, she sat down in front of the rock beside him. "I told you, Firefly killed Stonehenge slowly and painfully... His blood... Is on her paws!" She yelled and coughed.

"You will make yourself sick. Did you ask her why she did it?"

The Igglybuff shook her head. "No,"

"Then you can't say she meant to do it on purpose."

"How could she accidentally have ripped off his plates slowly and all?! She could have stopped anytime you know!" All of a sudden the two were absorbed in a silver haze.

_"She wasn't in control..."_ came an teary reply.

"Stickers, is that you?" Rubic quickly asked.

_"Who else would it be?"_

"It is her!" Pockets shouted.

_"Nice to see you're doing well, little Pockets."_

Suddenly, they felt like the voice was right above them, they both leaned back and glanced up at the edge of the rock, a almost completely see through yet still lavender furred tail hung over the left-hand side slightly.

Both stood up and backed away, the ghost of Stickers sat there, looking at them, slightly smiling.

"S-Stickers?!" They both stammered at the same time.

The figure nodded. _"In the not so flesh-y flesh."_ The Lickitung replied.

"How..." Rubic stopped, tripping over her words would only make her more confused.

_"That one spike, the one that says insight. It let's you both see me, for certain occasions..." _she began, stopping to scratch at her stomach; she mainly scratched around the long jagged scar that ran down her stomach. "Is that... What that bastard truly did to you?" Pockets said pointing slightly at the scar.

Stickers nodded. _"Yep, that awful bastard made me suffer, but I still killed him. I'm glad to see you two in such good shape-"_

"You look different, besides the scar... All your spikes are gone except for that one on the end of your tail."

_"Ah, yes... All that remains of the other seven spikes is small jagged stubs, the reason for this one spike remaining, is that it is all that keeps me from being trapped in Limbo, it allows me to move between Limbo and here."_ The Lickitung said as she sat staring at the two.

_"Now, back to the battle that happened earlier... Firefly was not in control, it was Saturnine that did all that to Stonehenge. Let me tell you it better, Saturnine is the Queen of Hell, she was killed by the higher legendaries. She bided her time down in Hell, waiting for a Chosen who could be taken over and destroy all that she could get her hands on. Well, Firefly was mentally weakened by a very very bad experiment that Giovanni assigned. In fact, Saturnine killed several scientist and was about to kill Tamra,"_

The sudden gasps from the two made Stickers pause. Rubic then said, "I know even Firefly could never do such a thing! Oh, I've made a huge mistake!"

The Lickitung nodded. _"It wasn't your fault... Rubic, you never knew that about Firefly. Farris stopped Saturnine that day, but just barely. So, there you have it, if you need to know more, just ask Farris, she'll tell you all that and more. And now, I must go for awhile, it's getting late and I need to talk to someone else."_ The Lickitung's body began to fade even further.

_"Good-bye for now, my friends, see you later." _And with that her form and the haze faded away from the two Pokemon's sight.

"Bye, Stickers," Pockets and Rubic said at the same time, "Thanks for informing us of what has been going on lately."

Rubic turned and hugged Pockets. "Thanks for hearing me out, it's rather late. I think I really should be heading back." she turned and tried to walk away, but Pockets grasped her left paw.

"W-wait!" he stammered. "Why not spend the night at my place? Then, in the morning you can apologize to Firefly." he offered and then he suddenly turned bright crimson, "That is, if you want to."

"How did you know I was heading back to apologize?" Pockets shrugged. "Just a hunch." He murmured.

"You know, I like the thought of that, if I go back now I will most likely get an earful from Pearl, as I think I really upset Rusty earlier." She nodded.

"Come on, Tamra let's us sleep in her place." he replied as he led her to his place.

_"They seem so happy..." _Stickers whispered to herself as she watched those two from a window in the Limbo world. _"Now to go and help to comfort one of my other good friends."_

And with that, Stickers smiled. She was still there, with her friends, just not exactly how she had planned.


	5. The Blood and Guts of Fighting

Following chapter 13 of "**Firefly: Queen of the New Breed**" by Xtreme Gamer here's the ending of his unfinished battles. I don't own his or anyone else's characters just Rusty and Pearl here.

Hope you like it XG and everyone else too!

Be kind and...

**Review!**

**Viva la feedback!**

I apologize if I messed up somehow. But I don't think I did!

* * *

"Ow. Sho-shoot!" Shadow gasped as the dusty smoke thinned, his chest covered with debris as he lay upon his back in a heap. _'Farris!' _the name hit him and he tried to sit up, only for a harsh pain to shoot throughout his chest.

"Farris, Farris... FARRI- Oh, no!" The Pikachu shouted as he managed to stumble to his feet, the source of his fright was absolutely gut-wrenching...

The Kingler was holding a dusty and battered Farris by the right hand...petal thing, flinging and beating her about like a rag-doll owned by a fit prone child. the Roselia was unconscious as best as Shadow could tell. He looked up instantly when he heard knuckles cracking above him and he cringed as he felt the Blastoise's rock hard fist collide with his forehead, making stars come out in broad daylight.

Shadow bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming, which accidentally made him bite through it, he cringed at the taste of metal, then, spat a mouth full of blood onto the Blastoise's feet.

"Damn bastard." He yelled and sent off a few dark electric attacks, and ended up having to leap out of the path as the bolts ricocheted.

Shadow felt ill, and iller still when he saw how _wilted_ his partner looked, but then, an idea hit him. And before he could be struck at once more he dashed towards the Kingler, Iron Tailing it in the side.

"Hey!" he yelled to the Kingler who was now lifting Farris up and dropping her roughly to the dirt. He grabbed Farris, sighing in relief when the grass type groaned and opened her eyes weakly. "Sha...?" she asked weakly. "Shh, how do you feel? How bad?"

"Like a Snorlax rolled over and flattened me. Oh! I can't move my right arm, it feels like it's not even there."

"Dislocated." The Pikachu sighed in sadness. But he ran over to a jutting cliff-like area, it wasn't really out of their enemies reach but Shadow wasn't too sure what he would do next, he sat Farris up onto the cliff. "Here, try and heal while I distract them." he then turned toward the two Pokemon who were coming for them.

"Shadow," The winged Roselia called, and the Pikachu looked back over his shoulder, "you're a really brave friend." he nodded, then ran back into the fray with a pounding headache and all.

The Kingler was the first to lash out, catching him by the tail and tossing him up, charging up an unwelcoming Bubblebeam to hit the chu when he came down.

Shadow hoped he could pull this through, he squirmed about in the air and tried to fall near the Blastoise, flailing his limbs as best as he could, he charged up a Iron Tail attack as he fell and he struck the Blastoise upside the head, stunning it, he then stood atop the Blastoise and blew a raspberry at the Kingler.

The over sized crab glared menacingly and pointed the pincer that held a fully charged attack right at him, releasing it so suddenly that Shadow barely jumped away in time to be missed.

The attack struck the muscled turtle Pokemon right in the face and the Blastoise seemed addled but lunged for the attacking Kingler. Shadow spat another mouthful of red onto the ground, he wiped his muzzle and turned to look so he could see where or what he'd gotten himself into this time.

His eyes widened, had it really worked? Had he truly convinced the two to attack each other? He had!

The Blastoise used a Rapid Spin on the Kingler, chipping its shell as it grinded against the crustacean and exposing some of its flesh, while the Kingler slung and beat its claws against the tortoise's shell also chipping it, but then it began to beat the Blastoise's skull in with a clenched pincer.

Shadow glanced to the cliff, Farris was sitting up with her feet dangling over the edge watching with a somewhat curious expression. She looked up and Shadow followed her gaze. _'Oh.' _he thought as he noticed the sun was shining brightly from up above in its blue haven. Farris appeared to have healed using Synthesis, but now she was charging up another attack, one that surrounded her body in a golden sheen.

"Wait!" he called to her and then gestured so as not to give his plan away to their enemies he motioned a plan. _"Let them weaken each other a little bit more then, let's unleash a double hitter."_

Farris paused, then she nodded and made a gesture that made Shadow snicker before she leaped down and strode a few steps closer to the clashing titans.

"Hey you dimwits," she spoke, "up yours assholes!" And she unleashed a Solarbeam to be reckoned with right dead-on accuracy.

"Dii-ie!" Shadow yelled unleashing a Shockwave that hit them from another direction a mere moment after Farris's own attack. The sound of crisping flesh filled the room.

When the attacks collided they created a huge orb of raw power that destroyed everything inside of it and when it had dissipated there was only charred soil and dusty ashes left.

"We did it!" they shouted.

* * *

Ironside lashed out at his six foes, iron vines struck out and hit a Diglett, which got a dazed appearance. _'Like Whack-a-mole.' _

He thought and without taking his eyes off of the **tri-otic **Pokemon, reached back with a vine and carefully lifted Hoshiko onto his back, a spare vine keeping her from falling off during her unconcious state.

The steel Venasaur eyed his opponents who were outnumbering him six to one, but he'd find a way to get out of this predicament, he'd done so before.

He glowed white and then suddenly appeared as a Rhydon with an Espeon(Hoshiko) held in its forepaws.

The Mangneton reformed and struck him with a tackle which didn't even dent his steel hide. Had he not been holding Hoshiko he wouldn't have stayed in that form for much longer, but instead he had to because she couldn't fight and he couldn't risk her getting killed.

He was suddenly flung as the Dugtrio trio lifted him off the ground and tossed him onto his back, all of a sudden a huge boulder and several other boulders began to rain down on him, he rolled over narrowly escaping a sharply inclined slab that would have hit him in the stomach and crushed his friend with himself.

He felt the ground shake and a loud steel clashing noise filled the air making him flinch as the Magneton used Metal Sound. He felt rocks hit him in the back, hard enough to dent his shell hide and make him yelp.

He wasn't very fast in this form, he felt the Dugtrio hitting him with Magnitude and then, he Transformed into a Sandslash and dug into the ground madly while watching Hoshiko from the corner of his eye.

He placed her in the nook of a boulder he created using Brick Break and dug into the ground.

He delved deeper and deeper as he went he killed only a single Diglett before an Earthquake hit him and he was thrown to the surface, he melted into his normal form as he felt his energy drain,

the Magnemite and two Diglets surrounded him, he saw the sparks shooting from the Magnemite and the charging beams of the Diglett's dreaded Tri Attack.

And he realized he was to weak to even escape perhaps there was no way to win this time.

Suddenly the Diglett's were acting surprised and then something had somehow dazed them.

And the Magneton became distracted, turning around to be hit by a Shadow Ball that exploded all around Ironside, he flinched, but when he opened his eyes he saw the blast deflected by a Barrier.

When the blast cleared, an anomalous Espeon was standing there looking a bit winded as she was breathing in ragged breaths.

"That... Wasn't so bad." she wheezed as her body shook from exhaustion. "What all did I miss?"

"Oh..." he murmured weakly as he fought to stand up, and smiled wanly. "Nothing much."

"Let's go. You need any help, Ironside?" she asked, and the Barrier dropped.

she stepped forward and he noticed she had a hellacious limp, but she didn't seem to care even though she'd wince as she limped along.

She stood before him, staring quizzically at him while she held out a friendly paw.

"Nah, I can manage." The steel toned Ditto replied, trying to get up again and, he blinked. "Actually I might."

Truth be told, he didn't want to cause her to lose balance and take a devastating tumble.

And he grabbed her paw, rising as best as he could to his feet, he took the form of a Magby, and waddled along beside her and out of the hellhole that had nearly claimed their lives.

* * *

Rusty knew he'd have to think of a way out of this or he and Pearl would be joining Stickers.

_'No way, around these punks so we'll have to go through them.' _Rusty thought and felt a knot form in his gut when he saw how hard Pearl was straining to hold up the Protect barrier she had created, he thought slowly, even though he knew time was ticking and it wasn't on his side.

"Pearl, can you..." He trailed off, whispering his plan into the Smoochum's ear so it wouldn't be overheard and become good for nothing.

The Jigglypuff finished reciting his plan and stepped back. "Well, can we manage it?" he asked and winked. Pearl smirked as best as she could at the moment.

"I can't garuntee a thing, but hey, you never know. I say it's worth a shot!" And then the barrier flickered and Rusty lunged out, rushing at the Machop and leaping upon him, the Butterfree became faintly interested and looked away from Pearl who dropped her Protect barrier silently and shot a wisp of cold air into her paws, quickly making a pile of dagger-like icicles.

She closed one eye and pulled back her arm, wincing at the pain in her ribs due to such a swift movement and the Poison Powder that was beginning to start coating her shoulders.

She flung the first spear and it stuck the Butterfree's left wing, ripping a tiny seamless hole along it. The Butterfree faltered, then beating its wings harder steadied itself. But now it had to flap much more rapidly to sustain altitude.

Pearl grabbed another dart, and threw it, it missed. Another one followed, barley grazing the side of the pesky bug-type who was now dodging the barrage as Pearl began to fire the projectiles faster now.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap, crap, yes a hit!" she yelled as the other wing was almost torn completely off. She'd hit it so well that the Butterfree was falling now. "Un-uh. You're not leaving that quickly."

And she ran to the shadow of the insects falling form, quickly making a bed of icy spikes and moving to the left a ways.

Let's just say that Pearl discovered she didn't like the whole 'bug splattered onto a windshield look' kinda thing. "E-ew!" she declared and looked away from the gutted bug as it insides had been spilled. It was most certainty dead.

Pearl ducked as a black and red blur was flung over her head. "Rusty!" she yelled, turning to get another look at the blur. Which was bad, a fist hit her in the back and then an arm reached out and grabbed her by the neck. "Rust-"

She choked as said Jigglypuff lay slumped against the wall, he opened his eyes at the sound of her distressed voice and his blood red orbs were set on fire. "Take your motherfucking paws off of her!" he screamed and stood up, dashing forward with his claws shooting outward ready for the bloodshed.

Pearl struggled, what if she got hurt in his attack? She realized it wouldn't be his fault, then, _'so be it.'_

She began to kick her feet, one finally made contact and hit the Machop in the groin, that got a fast reaction, the Pokemon loosened his hold and doubled over, to which Pearl kicked him again for good measure. The third hit made the Machop's knees give out and Pearl escaped his grasp, despising the bastard's strength.

Rusty, seeing he would not have to hold out for Pearl's sake doubled his efforts, and slammed his fist into the Machop's forehead, grabbing him by the ridges along his skull and lifting his head up to expose the bastards neck, he used his free hand and held his claws inches from its windpipe, marveling at their sharpened edges.

"You okay Pearl?" he asked. "Yeah,"

"Good." he replied and the claws sliced right through the Machop's throat in a clean straight line.

The Machop's eyes widwened then shrank as it grasped its own neck while flailing wildly in the troughs of death.

When it stopped twiching Rusty pulled at the gauntlets and tugged and yanked and fought to remove them, "I know someone who would like these." he said while grinning wickedly as he finally held them in his paws(not on).

"There too big for you. Oh, I catch your drift. You mean _her_ but how will you manage to carry them all the way to her when she's outside and all?"

Rusty shrugged, "I'll find a way, Sorcha will hold onto them until I can give them to the Sandshrew. Let's go, before the corpses start to stink."

"I wonder how everyone else is?" Pearl replied as she followed, Rusty dusted off the powder that covered the Smoochum's shoulders and made them ache.

"We'll have to go and see." he replied as they walked off.


	6. Dandelion Wine

This has been in my mind since Firefly's gang busted out in chapter 17 of "Firefly: Queen of the New Breed" by Xtreme Gamer. This focuses on Rusty, my lovable rebel of a Jigglypuff. This takes place near the end of chapter 18 of Firefly.

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, or the book Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury that is mentioned. But I'm still dreaming. I do however, own my characters and this fic though, and myself.

This is very _very_ short, but hey, you do what you have to when you have to and how you have to.

And yes, I've read some of the book, I'm currently reading it as of now.

Be kind to me and...

**Review!**

**Viva la feedback!**

**  
**"Let's laugh at the memories, and talk all afternoon  
Let's remember the moments that leave us all too soon  
We'll smile at the pictures still lingering in our minds  
When you're reminiscing, then all you need is time..."

- Dandelion Wine, a song by Blackmoore's Night

* * *

While everyone else was gazing at the snow-topped mountains Firefly had just pointed out, something else had caught Rusty's eyes. The harsh cold weather around the place was tough on most plants and very few were strong enough to survive the chill, yet here was one of the most common plants of all.

A small patch of dandelions, perhaps the commonest weed and most annoying one as well. He'd heard Rubic once talk about people who would go about combing their lawns and going to extreme measures just to avoid an invasion of tiny yellow blossoms.

Rusty remembered that when he was younger he had hated the sunny yellow blooms, but now, he felt sort of smitten.

_Dandelions! _he realized,

"I think I'm in love..." he murmured.

"With what?" Pearl snapped in a jealous tone as she put her hands upon her hips. The Smoochum hated it when he went and doted upon things that couldn't return the feeling.

Rusty believed that you could love one wine bottle until it was empty and then go look for another bottle that wasn't empty and fall in love with that one as well. He claimed that talking to the bottles made them taste sweeter.

Rusty scurried over, picking a dandelion. "Look, do you know what these are?" he asked, pointing to the flower.

Rubic nodded. "A dandelion." she replied with a rather bored tone, "I'm not stupid, everyone should know what that is. What's the big deal Rusty? It's just a weed."

The black Jigglypuff shook his head. "No, it is much more than just a common weed, do you recall my favorite book, Rubic?"

Pearl raised an eyebrow. "But Rusty, you can't read that well. And you don't like books... Right?"

Rusty gave a coy smile, "Think for a second Pearl, and you too Rubic, what do I love that might be mentioned in a book?"

"Wine." Both females said at once.

"Exactly." He said with a nod of his head.

"The book you are talking about... It's not the one by Ray Bradbury?" Rubic whined.

"The very one. Dandelion Wine, by Ray Bradbury, I love that book, emphasis on both love _and_ book. I really love the idea of packing all of the joys of summer into a single bottle, it sounds almost too perfect. And frankly, I couldn't give a damn about it being old, who cares if it was written in 1957? I like it, it's my kind of book.""

Pearl closed her eyes and took a deep breath, she'd never heard of such things. Rusty, loving a book? Impossible!

The Jigglypuff cast a wary glance to Pockets, who was talking to the others. His ruby-red eyes zeroed in on the Kankid's pouch. "You did bring _my_ books as well as your own, right?"

Rubic flinched. "I didn't know if you wanted me too, but yeah, I did."

Relaxing he smiled at his sister. "Good."

Pearl shook her head, "I'm going to talk to Farris for a bit." she said as she wandered off.

Rubic heard Firefly say something about moving on and the group was on the move again.

"Come on Rusty, let's go," His sister called.

The Jigglypuff hesitated, not wishing to abandon his discovery, but something told him that he wouldn't have to wait too long before he'd get some dandelion wine. A voice told him he'd meet a Treecko who had a knack for making some of the finest dandelion wine that he could get his paws on. He didn't understand it, but the voice sounded closer, as though it was not just in his head, but outside it as well.

"Rusty!"

"I'm coming, sis, jeez, hold your Ponytas."

He declared as he tossed the forgotten flower to the ground and raced off after his Igglybuff sibling.

A pure white Meowth released a with held breath, he'd been wary of moving from his spot up in a tree. His eyes were glowing a piercing crystal blue colour and only now did he dare speak.

_"Did you see all that, Agimo?_" He asked telepathically

_"Sure did Felix, they are the ones Ivory has been talking about. On the other paw you should know that Fabia won't approve of your methods." _She jeered back at him.

A sigh, _"Ivory will convince him, you know he'll react better to a request if it comes from someone of his own type." _He stood up, the black blaze upon his chest revealed. He'd hidden it from sight just in case someone had been looking, it would have been a dead giveaway.

_"Alright, if you say so." _The white Skitty replied, being on the other end of his special Sight Sharing ability, it made the fact that she was no where nearby him not matter a bit.


	7. Experiment Log: 258xb and 259xb

I've been wanting to write something in a medical/documentary kinda fashion and this is just the thing to write.

I'm using the experiment numbers given to them in Rubic's Reminiscences and Rusty's Rue just so you know.

* * *

Experiment number and name: 258xb, also known as Rusty

Species: Jigglypuff

Gender: Male

Fur colour: Black

Discriminating features: Orangish red rings around his paws and ears

Eye colour: Green(specific shade: Emerald, but turned reddish after awhile)

Unlike the typical male Jigglypuff, 258xb hasn't got the amorous nature and has been dubbed safe enough to be around females without risking their health. The Jigglypuff arrived with ebony fur, a sign of increased Melanin(dark pigment in the DNA).

This Pokémon has been imbued with rapid healing. Proof that the healing process works was made when 258xb fought against a Dunsparce and Clefable. 258xb defeated the two, with some help from his female companion. 258xb did, however, get scratched. Said scratches healed immediately before blood could escape, however the healing process left two red crescent shaped scars beneath his left eye. More data is required to figure out whether each time his body heals it will leave a scar or not . . .

It has been found that most of 258xb's regenerating powers were dormant during the battle, therefore 258xb should be able to heal any wounds(outside of losing a limb, or suffering from a flesh wound) will heal perfectly without scarring, although the severity and depth might not always allow it to heal without a scar.

* * *

Experimental number and name: 259xb, also known as Rubic

Species: Igglybuff

Gender: Female

Fur colour: Typical pinkish orange of her species

Discriminating features: Has the ears of a Jigglypuff, a heart-shaped ruby imbedded in her forehead, and custard yellow splotches all over her body

Eye colour: Green

259xb arrived along with 258xb in the same batch. Unlike 258xb, she was in a less than desirable state. 259xb had total blindness in both of her seafoam green eyes and would have been abandoned had we not successfully created a cure for blindness long prior to her arrival.

259xb was dubbed a guinea pig for our newer medical creations. We started off with extra appendage growth, resulting with 259xb sprouting ears like her evolved form had. The chemical mixture in said experiment had it's side effects however and she ended up with custard yellow blotches all over her fur. We also embedded a ruby into her forehead, in hopes of giving her the ability to channel psychic attacks and powers; this was later dubbed unsuccessful(Author's note: Remember they have no knowledge of her time-stopping ability.)

As of late, she has grown attracted to a young Kankid born to one of our fellow scientist's Pokemon.


	8. Experiment Log: 189xg

I've also decided to include Pearl, since there is some things I've been meaning to tell about her.

* * *

Experimental number and name: 189xg also known as Pearl

Species: Smoochum

Gender: Female

Fur colour: Iceberg blue

Discriminating features: Three Absol tails

Eye colour: Deep amber

Captured after she was discovered rifling through a grunt's bag, unknown exactly what she'd been looking for. 189xg showed an impassive nature and didn't resist at all when she was experimented upon. 189xg took an instant liking to another experiment that arrived not long after she had. This attraction developed into a relationship that still stands strong to this day.

189xg was fixed in an attempt to reduce her producing offspring(Author's note: Ha, I never told anyone about that!), this procedure is only used on particular experiments who do not possess a nature that would accommodate our purpose. The female's only offense during experimentation was when she was informed that she would be fixed, other than that, there have been no altercations.

Her skin changed when we made her ice type abilities strengthen tenfold, this also resulted in her constantly craving ice, although the cravings do not effect her abilities, they have still proven to be an annoyance. We were currently in the middle of replicating a separate species' body parts and transplanting them onto another, thus we replicated three Absol tails that were sized to fit, and transplanted them onto the Smoochum's body in place of her own tail.


	9. Experiment Log: 53xr, Deceased

This is another one I've been meaning to write, I just finished typing it.

* * *

/There is two large green stamps stamped upon the to that reads: DECEASED and FAILURE, the word failure has been scribbled out in a black sharpie and there is a large R.I.P in place of it/

(Author's note: Rubic was pissed when she found out they dubbed Stickers a failure.)

Experiment number and name: 53xr, _was_ also known as Stickers

Species: Lickitung

Gender: Female

Skin colour: Lavender

Discriminating features: Two rows of five inch long white spikes that are from half an inch to an inch in diameter start at her shoulders and continue down the length of her tail, a smaller tongue that fits inside of her mouth

Eye colour: Blue, but can appear grey

53xr was captured at a young age, she was calm, but fought violently to escape once captured. At the time she looked like any other common Lickitung.

She was subjected to a few earlier untested techniques(this was mainly because at the time they did not have as well developed experiment methods as they do now) and one such experiment made her become deathly ill before she managed to recover. She had a nurturing ability unrivaled by any other experiment we've seen, rivaling even the ones who had had several offspring before.

Amputating was still being worked upon, but we made the decision to slip an anesthetic into her food one day and remove nine tenths of her tongue, needless to say we succeeded and 53xr's motor skills went undamaged. We also gave her certain vitamin substitutes in order to strengthen her immune system, one said vitamin caused her skin to darken from the light rosy pink that was natural of her species and it became a light lavender; it was later discovered that a certain mineral that is related to the darkening pigment melanin. We injected calcium beneath the skin on each side of her spine from her shoulders to the end of her tail. The calcium caused skin bumps, but then her body reacted to it properly and started to convert the calcium into spikes.

She bonded with 01 and soon the Vulpix adored her. Later on several others who are in 01's group bonded with her as well.

She was called to the arena and faced another experiment, the exact information is missing at the moment but it was a male Mightyena with steel plates on his head and legs, his teeth were also made of steel. 53xr had never fought before, but she still possessed a rather strong arsenal of attacks for a nonfghter. She killed the Mightyena after having her stomach torn open and from what was said by the young Igglybuff in 01's group, a few of her ribs had broken and pierced a few organs. Combined it meant that 53xr most likely bled to death, slowly.

This particular log, like all the other ones on deceased experiments, has been officially dubbed complete due to the fact that there can be no more data gathered.


	10. Stickers' Errand

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. But I do own my characters and if you try to take them away I'll make you wish you hadn't. And castrations one of my specialities. XD

Author's Note:

Ever since Stickers appeared in Firefly: **Queen of the New Breed**, I've had her back-story in my mind. The desire to write it was strong, but I bided my time until I saw a perfect opportunity. I didn't simply want the reader alone to know what Stickers origin was, I wanted the characters to know as well, because if they didn't, something precious would be lost forever.

So I waited and waited, letting the back story ferment in my mind like fine wine(a term Rusty would be ecstatic to know I use) and as it fermented, more and more things were added. I had to stop and wonder, who should fetch this object? And then I knew, who better than her beloved Rubic?! The one who Stickers had always loved, not any more than the others, mind you, but in a way that a mother loves her child.

And now, this idea, this glorious idea, can finally be put up and read. Feel free to review. It will only add to my happiness.

* * *

Rubic sat off by herself, her dainty little paws fiddling around with a twig. She kept drawing shapes in the dirt and smoothing them out to begin her doodles anew.

"Hey, Rubic, are you alright?" Pockets called, the Kankid was sitting down by Rusty, said Jigglypuff was trying to teach him chess (something I'll never bother to learn since I love checkers a hell of a lot better), but he was already jumping the gun and losing his main pieces.

Rusty smiled and grabbed another bottle of the wine he'd gotten from the Treecko a long ways back. The Jigglypuff had decided he'd take things slower, sips rather than gulps, that way the full effect could be savored. He pulled out the cork and sipped a small amount, letting out a drunken sigh. "Hey, Rub, why don't you join us for a game or two?" He called.

The Igglybuff shook her head. "No thanks, I'm just thinking about stuff." She turned her head and held in a giggle at the Jigglypuff's obvious insobriety, "Take it easy, bro."

A drunken hiccup escaped said male's mouth. "I know! Yeesh, I'm not even guzzling it down like I used to, I'm only taking small sips." He protested.

Pearl stood to the side, rubbing her arms and gazing at the clouds, but she turned her attention upon the Jigglypuff. Walking over she grabbed at the bottle he held in his paw. "That's enough, hon." She cooed.

Rusty grimaced and jerked the bottle away from the Smoochum. He began to cradle it while also moving a pawn forward. "Okay Pockets, your move."

The female scoffed, she had tried. She sat down beside her mate and just watched.

Rubic just sighed and move the twig some more. The outline of a winged Vulpix appeared in shaky lines. Then she drew herself and all her friends gathered around the female. " . . . Firefly . . . " She whispered, pursing her mouth and gazing upward.

"We miss her too, you know." Pockets said with compassion in his voice and eyes.

"I know," Rubic sighed.

* * *

Stickers was watching the group. Her grayish blue eyes sparkling with love. But then she frowned, _"No way,"_ Her eyes gazed at the distance that separated the group from a lake. They'd stopped near a river, but the lake . . .

"_Sibylla . . . "_

"She's going to die soon,"A voice said and Stickers turned to see the loving eyes of Ho-oh.

Stickers shivered. _"Are you sure?" _

"I'm sorry, but I am." The female replied.

"_How soon?"_

"Tomorrow morning."

The Lickitung inhaled deeply. _"She . . . " _She gazed back, eying the lake. _"Does she still have . . ."_

"Yes, she's been taking care of it to this day." Ho-oh said, knowing what Stickers was talking about. "For nearly four years she's dedicated her depleting energy to preserving it."

_"We go back a long ways. To think that she'd still have it . . . I can't let her die knowing that her efforts were for naught."_

"Then send one of your friends to get it."

_"I . . . yes, I'll do that then."_ She replied, her mind contemplating who she should pick to send.

* * *

The evening waned on, eventually turning into night. Rubic lay down, three feet away from the others. The sound of her brother's groaning snores ravaged her ears. Pearl and Pockets were tossing and turning in their sleep along with the others. Only she was awake, her eyes staring off, gazing at the stars that had started to shimmer faintly in the barely dim sky.

_"Rubic."_ A voice whispered, one that she had no trouble identifying.

Turning the Igglybuff nodded. "Yes? What is it?"

_"Shh, come over hear, I don't want you to wake the others."_

Rubic's ears swiveled, the voice was easy to locate. She walked away, careful not to awaken her friends. Whatever did Stickers want? She ended up twenty feet away before a light grey haze surrounded her. The Lickitung's transparent body appeared.

_"How are you, my darling Rubic?"_

She kicked her feet and shrugged. "Not too good since Firefly left, aside from that, I've been good. What do you need?"

Stickers grinned grimly. _"Need? Well, that's rather complicated. There's someone nearby who is going to die very soon."_

"Die? Are you sure? What am I supposed to do about that?" Rubic complained, uncertain.

_"Yes, but I don't want you to worry, she's lived a long life. It's just . . . she's got something very important to me. I would have gotten it back, but you know that something prevents me from doing it." _She replied, scratching at the large scar that she'd had ever since her death.

"So you want me to get it for you, then what?"

_"Then, I want you to take care of it."_

Rubic knew that Stickers wouldn't ask for something unless it really was important. Physical objects usually didn't mean anything compared to Stickers' friends, but whatever the Lickitung was asking her to fetch must have such a value that she felt the need to request its retrieval. "Very well, I'll gladly get it."

_"Thank you, the Pokémon is that way, she lives beside a lake, and her name is Sibylla. Tell her that I'm the one who sent you, she might not recall it at first, but she'll remember eventually." _The female gestured to the west.

"I'll be on my way then." Rubic replied, her green eyes determined as she headed off.

The way there was an easy walk, the area was rather empty of life, which made Rubic wonder, but she just thought of it as an easier trip that way. She was actually happier to know that no one would see her and think of her as a light snack.

She paced herself, an Igglybuff was among one of the smallest Pokémon around, and they were not quite near the fastest either. Sunrise would not be for several hours, and she was happy to know that her absence wouldn't be noticed unless one of her friends woke up early.

Two hours later she was walking when she saw the lake. "There it is." She said. But when she got there she had no idea where Sibylla was at. "Is there a burrow?" She asked, walking about, but before she knew it, she'd slipped inside the very burrow she had been looking for. She fell, landing flat on her stomach.

"Oofh!" She groaned, rolling over and rubbing her gut.

"Who's there?" A voice called, punctuated by a wheezing cough.

Rubic froze; she could just make out the outline of a strange creature. She didn't make a peep.

"I haven't had a visitor in ages," It muttered, stepping closer. The stranger was a Golduck, old and visibly tired.

"I'm Rubic. . . I was sent here by a friend to talk to someone named Sibylla."

"Aye, that would be me." She leaned closer and Rubic saw her eyes were glazed a foamy blue. It seemed that cataracts had struck the Golduck's vision.

"A-are you blind?" The Igglybuff stammered.

The ancient female paused, a hand touching the ruff of fur atop the Igglybuff's head. "Nearly blind, I've gradually lost my sight over the last six years. My, you certainly are an odd Jigglypuff."

"Actually, I'm an Igglybuff. I've had experiments done to me that made me grow ears."

Sibylla's webbed hand touched the ruby on her forehead. "And the stone, did they do that to you as well?"

She nodded, then realizing that the female couldn't see it she said, "Yes."

"But you escaped." She replied, lowering her hand and gazing curiously at the Igglybuff.

"Not alone, no, my friends and I escaped."

She tilted her head to the side and clucked her tongue. "Oh? And what has brought you here, Rubic?"

"A friend told me you had something of hers." She stated, her green eyes gazing at the female's glazed ones.

"I have nothing of anyone's, unless . . . Do you know a Lickitung named Stickers?" Her eyes, glazed as they were, still shimmered with a type of fondness.

"She's a friend of mine. She would have come herself, but she'd dead."

A sudden sadness came across Sibylla's face. "Dead? But she was so young, who would kill someone as pure and loving as that darling Pokémon?"

"An evil man. Why? Did you know Stickers?" She asked, intrigued by the Golduck's obvious love for her deceased friend.

"Know her, I was there when she was born, I watched her grow. Up until those bad people came and took her along with the rest of her lashing."

"Lashing?" Rubic said blankly, "What's that?"

"Every group of Pokémon has a certain name; a herd of Ponyta, a murder of Murkrow, a Clowder of Meowth, you understand?"

Rubic suddenly recalled reading something like that once. "Yes, so a group of Lickitung is called a lashing?"

Sibylla nodded. "Exactly, would you like to hear more about Stickers past?"

"Yes!" Came the sudden outburst. No one knew where Stickers had come from, and no one ever tried to get her to tell them. So as far as they'd always known, Stickers had just arrived from the middle of nowhere one day, long before they had.

The elder female chuckled; she sat down, her joints popping in protest. Rubic sat down as well. "I see you're interested, I'll try not to prattle however. You see, a lashing contains seven to nine Lickitung, if more are born, they must leave once they are old enough to survive on their own or they can stay, given certain circumstances. A particular lashing once lived in the field that surrounds this lake. It consisted of six said Pokémon, one of which was pregnant with our friend. I lived nearby, and often they would visit me. I was known as a prophet."

Rubic's eyes widened and gasped. The movement wasn't seen, but the gasp was heard. "Ah, so you find that interesting?"

"Yes, so, um . . . could you see the future?"

A solemn nod, "Yes, but mostly bad stuff, plus my visions were rare. Anyway, when Stickers was born she was perfect, and everyone quickly realized she was wise beyond her years. I nurtured her, as did all the others. But after she'd grown awhile, my visions and abilities: you see 'I could preserve their eggs for certain durations of time, were beginning to annoy the others in the lashing, they tried to make me leave, but Stickers stopped them. There was something about her eyes that made them all calm down."

"Preserve . . . eggs? What do you mean?"

Sibylla coughed hard, her breathing becoming shaky. "Each generation in my family knows an old tradition. It takes a lot of work to get the right herbs, but one you've got them; you can preserve an egg for any amount of time desired. I'm the last of my family, however." She said, the next part came out in a soft whisper. "She was nearly eight months old when she became pregnant."

"Pregnant?!" Rubic screamed in shock. She had no frigging clue why such an important detail had never come up earlier.

"Yes, pregnant, she was too young, and at the time there was a drought happening. Most Pokémon go through live birth, but there's a certain mineral that's required for this, if it is unavailable they'll lay eggs. So she ended up laying an egg due to a mineral deficiency. I . . . I asked her if she wanted me to preserve it until she was older, but she said no. At least, she did before they came . . . The humans in black attacked mere days later, taking three Lickitung alive and killing two others, during the carnage she managed to get the egg to me and tell me to preserve it for her until she could come back. I took it, hiding in my hole with the egg against my beating heart. The others in her lashing were killed, but she was captured alive, not without a fight, mind you."

Rubic's breath was shaky. "So the thing she wants me to get is . . ."

The Golduck stood, turned and retrieved something that was small, yet nearly the size of the Igglybuff herself. It was wrapped in a couple of leaves, but when they were peeled back, a pale pink egg was revealed. "She hoped that she would escape, there was nothing she wanted more than to raise her child. And I believe that with the nurturing nature she had, she would have been the best mother I've ever had the chance to meet." She held the small egg out.

Rubic picked it up, struggling to hold it firmly enough so that it wouldn't get dropped. "It's so small." She murmured.

Sibylla nodded. "Premature, but I know that the baby inside is strong and alive, it's just been dormant for so long. It may never grow to be as big as a normal Lickitung, but it will still be a fine child, full of energy and affection" She began coughing even more. "I'm going to lay down now." She said as she moved away and laid down, her ribcage shaking with every breath.

"Sibylla, one more question, how old are you?" Rubic asked, knowing that she was at least eight.

"Fifteen years old." The Golduck responded, blankly.

The Igglybuff stared at the egg. Why had Stickers never told her, never told them? Was the reason she loved them all so much because she longed for children of her own that badly? No, Rubic knew it had been more than that. Stickers would have loved them that much even if she had come to them before she'd ever gotten pregnant. Still, the female felt sad, how many days had she watched Stickers gaze upward and seen tears in the Lickitung's eyes? But even when she asked, Stickers had shaken her head and said it was nothing.

"The sun is going to rise soon." Sibylla wheezed out, each word punctuated by a cough.

Rubic snapped out of her daze. She gazed at the Golduck. Her breathing was becoming more and more labored.

"_Sibylla," _Stickers said, her form appearing suddenly beside the water type.

"St . . . Stickers?" Said female gasped.

Stickers smiled her eyes soft and empathetic. _"Yes, its me, old friend."_

Sibylla's eyes grew clearer and filled with recognition. "I can see again, clearly too . . . I see you, and I know it's you, Stickers. Even with those . . . stubs, a short tongue, and lavender fur, your eyes . . . they may have changed you on the outside, but your eyes . . . they're still the same as always." Her breathing began to even out.

"_Yes, they did many things, but I never forgot you. And now, it's time for you to come with me."_

A hacking cough, but there was no painful grimace even though Rubic knew it had been painful. Her eyes filled with uncertainty. "Wh-wh-where to, where . . . are we . . . going?"

The Lickitung touched the female, whose body ceased to move. Rubic inhaled sharply as she saw the Golduck's eyes shutter and close. A transparent form shifted, stretching before sitting up. The form stood up, Stickers reached out and grasped a webbed claw and the transparent Golduck was beside her. _"We're going to a place that's a real paradise."_ The Lickitung responded softly.

"_Yes,"_ Sibylla replied, the Golduck's eyes staring at the body she'd once lived son many years with. _"I'll gladly follow you wherever you take me, Stickers."_

Stickers turned and gave Rubic a reassuring smile. _"Are you okay with this? Will you take care of him?" _

It took a few moments to realize that the 'him' she had referred to was the egg. Swallowing the Igglybuff nodded. "Yes . . . Why didn't you tell me?"

Grey eyes, sad, but hopeful gazed at her before frowning. _"Dear Rubic, I was not keeping it from you and the others so much as I was keeping it from myself. That place was full of nothing but despair, had I told you or anyone else, it would have only made you sadder. And as you know full well, I strive to make you happier, no matter what the predicament. Do you . . . hate me for it?"_

Rubic shook her head wildly. "Hate, no! I could never hate you for it, I'm actually rather amazed at how much willpower you must've had in order to hold back the intense sadness you felt."

"_Thank you. We'll be going now. Promise me that he'll be well loved."_

"He's part of you, there's no one who could love him more than the others and I." She replied, stroking the egg softly.

"Good, I had hoped you'd accept him. I hope he'll be happy, please try to spare his innocent eyes from the violence after he's born."

"I'll do my damndest to make him happy. You did it for us, and I'll gladly do it for him." She pledged, her green eyes as protective and fierce as a mother Ursaring.

"_I know, you'll be his mother surrogate. And maybe someday, he'll know just how hard his mother fought to protect him." _She turned, held Sibylla's paw before they faded away.

Rubic turned, her eyes on the rising sun, she pressed the egg as firmly against her chest as she could and raced home, careful and dedicated to keeping the egg unhurt. When she finally got back, Rusty walked up, his orangish-red eyes blazing.

"Where were you? And what's that?" He snarled, a suspicious gaze going to Pockets, as though he though the Kankid was to blame for the eggs appearance. The young male flinched beneath the Jigglypuff's gaze.

"Stickers asked me to run an errand, this egg . . . ." She said, gasping from all the exertion she'd put into getting there faster. "Is Stickers' egg, it holds her only offspring, and he's mine to take care of."

The male recoiled. "How the Hell?!"

Rubic smiled wanly. "An old tradition that was passed along through generations of Golduck." She began explaining, going into depth about how she'd met Sibylla and how the Golduck had helped raise their friend. Even elaborating on how Stickers had gotten pregnant at such a young age. When she was finished, the entire group was gazing at the egg raptly. Complete strangers who had never known Stickers, but had heard of the Lickitung's unending compassionate love, were smiling and a small spark of true joy shining in their eyes.

"This egg . . . " Rusty said, asking Rubic with his eyes to let him hold it. She knew he'd sobered and gently handed it over. He held it for a few moments, then handed it back, trying to hide the softness that had shown in his eyes. "Is a miracle."

Rubic smiled and stroked the egg, feeling the soft, smooth shell and she swore she could hear the child's heartbeat through the shell. _"Yes,"_ She thought, _"he's a miracle, and he's already restored hope to the others."_


	11. In The Shape Of A Heart

Author's note: This is not a real chapter, I mean, this is a 'what if' chapter, none of this(aside from a few details) will ever actually happen.

This was written out of an idea that came to me almost a year ago and never left my mind, and now I've finally typed this son of a bitch out!

* * *

Pockets sat there, staring at the ruby he held. The gemstone had once been embedded in his beloved friend's forehead, but then she had evolved.

"Pockets," A voice called, glancing up the Kankid saw Rusty, Rubic's big brother. Said male sat down beside him. "Look kid, I'm sorry. I was looking forward to seeing you and Rubic love each other through the years. That Hal guy really doesn't deserve her, the Latino jerk!"

Pockets nodded solemnly, turning the necklace over in his paws, the chain that had been attached to it shimmered briefly before the light caught the red stone and shined even brighter.

"I never thought she'd ditch me for that guy, stupid Lombre!" He snarled, he felt Rusty press something against his arm, looking down he saw an unopened bottle of wine. "No thanks, I can't drink her off my mind, not unless you have enough of that to drown a Wailord in."

Rusty frowned, "I wish I did." He watched as Rasmus, the child of Stickers listened to Pearl tell him a story. A smile graced the Jigglypuff's face, who would've guessed that the Lickitung would ask Hoshiko to grant him a wish for a smaller tongue, one similar to his Sticker's?

"I guess our bloodlines will die out, Rubic refuses to have kids and will only adopt, Pearl had that hysterectomy. Nighthorn's legacy ends here, that is, unless my mother's third child was a family Pokémon, I don't know, we left mere weeks after he was conceived. Looking at Rubic and I, the poor bastard probably grew up gay. Guardian only knows why this all happened to our lineage." An orange-ringed paw lifted the bottle to his mouth, sweet, mind numbing wine flowing down his throat.

"I don't know, but I still love her, the fact that she ditched me after she evolved only adds to the heartache, she did it all to save that no good Lombre from drowning. Drowning! A water type who can't swim!" He threw up his paw in anger as if to emphasize the fact that his whole world had been flipped upside down due to a stupid male.

He remembered what his reaction had been at first.

_"Pockets, this is Jalapeno." Rubic said to him, a few days after she'd evolved, she still clutched the ruby that had fallen from her forehead after the evolution in a paw, occasionally glancing at it in sorrow. Now she had made it into a necklace._

_Her yellow splotched fur had lost the splotches and deepened to a mild shade of magenta._

_She had prolonged the introduction for awhile, choosing to get to know the male better before allowing him to meet her friends and family._

_"Please, just call me Hal," The Lombre said, touching his lily-pad hat that was common among his species._

_Immediately suspicious, the Kankid snapped, "What kind of name is Jalapeno?"_

_Smiling the Lombre replied. "A spicy one, like my Latino blood, nice and hot!" He made a small dance, making Rubic blush and stifle a giggle._

_Unimpressed, Pockets crossed his arms. "You evolved to save him from drowning, he's a water type, why couldn't he swim to save his life?"_

_"Ah, well, you see, I spent all my life dancing, I'm a dancer not a swimmer. A champion dancer at that!" Hal said, smugly reveling in his amazing dancing skills._

_"Oh puh-lease, what a pathetic excuse that is." _

_"Pockets, be nice, Hal is my friend, he didn't mean to almost drown, it was an accident." She gazed at the ruby, her paw clenching around it, She subconsciously touched the spot where it had been, a curl of hair common among Jigglypuff hung over the spot, beneath it was a faint dimple, nearly invisible unless you knew of it and felt for it._

_"Here, I have no use for this anymore." She said, tossing the gem, Pockets cried in surprise and just barely caught the ruby._

From then on Rubic had grown closer to Jalapeno, abandoning her friends, choosing to watch the Lombre dance and allow him to teach her his dancing ways. Hal had also sworn of of both evolving(he had ingested a small pebble that contained everstone minerals, it broke down and made him immune to evolving) and having children.

Rusty had tried to coax her back to them, namely by trying to beat the shit out of Hal, but Rubic had scorned her brother and went as far as to scold him until even the bold and brazen Jigglypuff backed off.

Rasmus didn't understand his 'Mum's' change, he avoided her, she wasn't the mother he used to know, only an infatuated female enmeshed with a vain male.

Glancing down, the Kankid saw a reflection in the gem's surface, a Igglybuff stared back, her eyes filled with adoration, she mouthed the words 'I'm so sorry' before shutting her eyes and fading away.

Pockets tried not to cry, he suddenly knew what had happened, the ruby had been more than an accessory, it _was_ Rubic, he felt like without the gemstone attached, the part of Rubic he loved had been eradicated.

She was now just a distant friend, who bore less than any resemblance to the real Rubic.

He tried not to cry as he pressed it against his chest and cried, he felt Rusty pat him on the shoulder, and even Rasmus cuddled him. "Don't cry, Papa." The little Lickitung said, wiping at the tears that rolled down the Kankid's cheeks.

But the pain still throbbed in his chest, a pain that was shaped just like the ruby that still held the true essence of his friend.

* * *

_"You keep it up_

_You try so hard_

_To keep a life from coming apart_

_And never know_

_What breaches and faults are concealed_

_In the shape of a heart." ~ Jackson Browne, In The Shape Of A Heart_

Note, there are several things that are unreal.

1. Rubic can NOT and would NOT evolve. She had a fragment of everstone embedded beneath her fur like Rusty did during one of the experiments.

2. Jalapeno is not real, he is a character made up for the sake of seducing females and has been used as a brainstorm character, if I need a quick character to be a stand in for a Pokémon romance, Hal is usually the first Pokémon used until I have the actual one ready, then he is replaced by said Pokémon before the product is done. This time he actually got his screen time, I bet he'll brag for a long time about this now. Perhaps he will actually find a real true love one day, who knows.

3. Rubic would lose everything if she lost her gemstone, she uses it to channel her psychic powers, without it she's unable to do anything she usually does, **including stop time**!

The real parts.

1. Rasmus really will make a wish for a shorter tongue, he hates his over-sized tongue, it always gets in his way. He also thinks it tends to screw with his method of speaking, eating, and pretty much everything else.

2. Yes, Nighthorn did have a third child, but next to nothing is known of him since Rusty and Rubic set off not long after she became pregnant.


End file.
